News and views about the implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 and other legislation, schemes and policies impacting the Right to Education of India's Children.

About Me

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

CHANDIGARH: In the wake of the standoff between the UT administration
and private schools trying to wriggle out of the RTE Act, advocates in
the city have accused private school managements of deliberately holding
up implementation of the Act. Most private schools in the city have not
been entitled to reimbursement under the Right to Education Act for the
last two years, city based RTE activists pointed out. According to
them, private schools have been misinterpreting the RTE clauses and
court verdicts and raising queries which have already been addressed in
the Act. Education secretary V K Singh confirmed the development.

Elaborating on the reimbursement issue, schools have been raising
repeatedly to shrug off their responsibility under the RTE Act, advocate
Amar Vivek said, "The RTE Act clearly mentions that the amount will be
reimbursed to private schools to teach children under the Act.
Therefore, schools can't make it a condition for not admitting 25%
children under RTE."
Clearing the confusion on whether private
schools have to admit 25% of children from economically weaker sections
under the RTE, plus 15% of children under the obligation of land
allotment or if the 15% are included in the 25%, advocate Pankaj
Chandgothia, a city based RTE activist said, "Clause 2 of Section 12
under the RTE Act reads, provided further that where such school is
already under obligation to provide free education to a specified number
of children on account of it having received any land, building,
equipment or other facilities, either free of cost or at a concessional
rate, such school shall not be entitled for reimbursement to the extent
of such obligation.
This means they have to admit 25% children
under RTE, including the children stated under the land allotment
obligation." According to the advocate, in the last three years, schools
have admitted less then 15% of children, which means most of them are
not even entitled for reimbursement for previous years.
Advocate
Amar Vivek pointed out that hardly any schools have been admitting
children under the land allotment obligation. "In all these years I have
been in touch with many private schools but hardly any schools
fulfilled the 15% land obligation condition," he said.
Education-cum-finance secretary, V K Singh said, "It is true that there
have not been more than 15% admissions under RTE in private schools and
this is the percentage up to which schools have to admit children under
the law of land. This means there will be no reimbursement. However, it
is taking us time to make schools understand this." Justifying the
stance of private schools, president of the Independent Schools'
association, H S Mamik said, "Everyone is confusing it. We are only
asking the UT to clarify which notification is to be followed by
schools.
Regarding percentage of children to be taught under land
allotment obligation, we have received three notifications, one in
1996, which read, admit 15% students, in 2001, it read admit 5% children
and in 2005, it read everyone has to admit 15% children. We are just
saying that if 15% children are to be included in 25% RTE seats, we will
start charging a nominal fee from those 15% children as it is not free
education like RTE."
Advocate Chandgothia stated that schools
have been misinterpreting the Delhi high court verdict. "The verdict
passed by the Delhi high court is on the 75% seats and not on the 25%
seats under RTE. The schools have taken it as another excuse. Clause 1c
of Section 12 under the RTE Act clearly states that in case of schools
which impart pre-school education, the Act will apply to pre-school
education," he said.

RTE activists in the city state that private schools are taking
advantage of the leniency of the department. They blame the department
for not being able to answer queries of private schools effectively,
leading to confusion. "Every state is taking strict action against
schools which have failed to implement RTE but the UT administration has
been extremely lenient. Had it taken strict action against one school,
everything would have fallen into place, Chandgothia and Vivek asserted.

New Delhi, April 3 (IANS) As the deadline for implementing the
Right to Education Act expired March 31, a group of civil society
organisations have claimed that less than 10 percent schools are
RTE-compliant in terms of infrastructure and teacher availability.
They have sought a pan-India review of the implementation of the act.
The
organisations, which come under an umbrella group called RTE Forum,
Wednesday released a report on the implementation of the RTE Act.
Funds have been allocated, but growth has been "sporadic", the report said.
"While
it is undeniable that additional government resources have been
allotted, more teacher posts and infrastructure sanctioned, and
administrative changes brought about, these efforts have been sporadic,"
said the report.
"The sheer fact that less than 10 percent
schools are RTE-compliant in terms of infrastructure and teacher
availability is reflective of the reality of poor performance on the
ground," it said.
"The tough issue of adequate financing,
regulation of private providers, setting up of a transparency and
redressal mechanism have not been addressed on the ground".
It
also points out that India's commitment to provide education to millions
of its children has "stagnated, between centre and state".
On the
positive side, the report highlights that 77 percent schools comply
with the neighbourhood norms as per RTE, and are within reach of the
community. When it comes to infrastructure, 79 percent schools have
all-weather buildings, but only 50 percent have a boundary wall.
Around
five percent of the schools in the sample were run in a single room,
nearly two-thirds had three or more classrooms, and only a third of the
schools had seven or more classrooms.
Nearly 80 percent of the schools also had teaching-learning material accessible to teachers and students.
When
it comes to playgrounds, overall, 58 percent schools reported they had
playgrounds, while 58 percent said they had some kind of play material.
This ratio varies among states.
While in Tamil Nadu, 82 percent
schools have playgrounds, states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and
West Bengal still have to provide playgrounds to 44 to 60 percent of
their schools.
Safe drinking water is available in 77.8 percent
schools. In states like Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, more than 75
percent schools reported that they had separate toilets for girls.
However,
in Odisha, only 14 percent schools had separate girls' toilets, in
Andhra Pradesh, 46.3 percent, and in Bihar, 46 percent.
Teachers
recruitment remains a problem, as the study shows only 56.6 percent
schools comply with the pupil-teacher ratio of 30:1.
The study
also found that while the act says no teachers shall be deployed for any
non-educational work other than census, disaster relief and local,
state and general elections, more than 47 percent teachers were involved
in activities other than these.

Programme director of Mahita P Ramesh Sekhar Reddy (left) discusses the
merger issue with his colleagues at his office in Hyderabad on Wednesday
| A Suresh Kumar/Express

The move to shut down 1,284 schools by the state government with low
or zero enrolment could probably encourage school dropouts and child
labour in far-flung rural and tribal areas. The announcement by the
State Project Director of Rajiv Vidya Mission (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan) to
‘merge’ government schools with zero enrolment or with a student
strength of less than 10 with neighbourhood schools might have far
reaching consequences due to the absence of suitable neighbourhood
schools in these areas to fill the gap.
The process of ‘merger’
involves integrating teachers with a neighbouring school and then,
moving students to the school. Minister for Primary Education and Sarva
Shiskha Abhiyan (SSA) S. Sailajanath said students will be provided the
cost of transportation in the absence of a neighbouring school within
the specified radius of 1 kilometre as specified by the Right to
Education Act (RTE).
But the minister’s words did not cut ice with
NGOs. “If we take a look at the expenditure on transportation under the
SSA budget allocations, the percentage is zero. In interior areas,
there is no transportation facility nor are the roads accessible. Hence,
parents are unwilling to send their children to schools farther away.
Though there are plans to set up 355 model schools in the state in
2013-14, the ‘merger’ of schools discourages students in rural and
tribal areas from pursuing primary education, resulting in an increase
in the trend of being employed as a child labour,” observes P Ramesh
Sekhar Reddy, program director of Mahita, an NGO which works in the
field of development interventions.Private schools deter the poor
The
closure of schools results in few parents enrolling their wards in
private institutions. In Chittoor district alone, 303 schools are up for
closure this academic year of which 97 had stopped functioning around
two years back. “There is a demand for English medium education in
private schools. However, closing down schools in remote areas is not a
solution as the size of habitations are small with an average 20 to 25
families living there and hence the number of students is less. These
students cannot afford to enroll in a private school nor are the parents
keen to send their children especially girls to schools faraway for
security concerns as well as the money required for transport via share
autos, as there are no buses,” says K.V Ramana of NGO Pragathi which
works with the Yenadi tribes. A similar situation also faces Araku
valley in Vizag where 46 schools are slated for ‘merger’ and 50 in West
Godavari.Tribal areas the worst hit
The
fallout of ‘merging’ schools in interior, especially tribal areas, is
unique. The dropout rates among SC and ST children in progressive
classes increase due to the inaccessibility of upper primary schools in
the vicinity. “Linking of Integrated Tribal Development Agency schemes
to SSA in tribal areas works against implementing RTE in the true
spirit. There are two District Education Officers appointed in these
areas, one under the ITDA and one under SSA and there is little
coordination between the two. Further, students usually stay at home
during the sowing season of seasonal crops as well as cotton picking
season and come back to school only in July though the schools reopen in
June. There is no cognizance of such issues,” says S. Srikanth, project
coordinator for Mahita in Adilabad district. He adds that the rule of
ITDA to move tribal children to residential school system where students
from a school are shifted to hostels at Gram Panchayat region in third
standard results in high dropouts. “In a tribal habitation, the school
has only first and second class. Separating the child at a tender age to
a hostel on an average 5 kilometre away has adverse effects,” says
Srikanth.Absence of consultations
The
provision for setting up School Management Committee (SMC) under RTE
with participation from parents has not been adhered to and there is no
provision of consultation with parents. “The school buildings after
merger are usually converted into community halls or Integrated Child
Development Services (ICDS) centre. There should be a system of
inter-linking primary education to such schemes,” observes P. Ramesh
Sekhar Reddy.

The report also points out that India's commitment to provide education
to millions of its children has "stagnated, between centre and state".
(Express/File)

As the deadline for implementing the Right to Education Act expired
March 31, a group of civil society organisations have claimed that less
than 10 percent schools are RTE-compliant in terms of infrastructure and
teacher availability.
They have sought a pan-India review of the implementation of the act.
The
organisations, which come under an umbrella group called RTE Forum,
Wednesday released a report on the implementation of the RTE Act.
Funds have been allocated, but growth has been "sporadic", the report said.
"While
it is undeniable that additional government resources have been
allotted, more teacher posts and infrastructure sanctioned, and
administrative changes brought about, these efforts have been sporadic,"
said the report.
"The sheer fact that less than 10 percent
schools are RTE-compliant in terms of infrastructure and teacher
availability is reflective of the reality of poor performance on the
ground," it said.
"The tough issue of adequate financing,
regulation of private providers, setting up of a transparency and
redressal mechanism have not been addressed on the ground".
It
also points out that India's commitment to provide education to millions
of its children has "stagnated, between centre and state".
On the
positive side, the report highlights that 77 percent schools comply
with the neighbourhood norms as per RTE, and are within reach of the
community. When it comes to infrastructure, 79 percent schools have
all-weather buildings, but only 50 percent have a boundary wall.
Around
five percent of the schools in the sample were run in a single room,
nearly two-thirds had three or more classrooms, and only a third of the
schools had seven or more classrooms.
Nearly 80 percent of the schools also had teaching-learning material accessible to teachers and students.
When
it comes to playgrounds, overall, 58 percent schools reported they had
playgrounds, while 58 percent said they had some kind of play material.
This ratio varies among states.
While in Tamil Nadu, 82 percent
schools have playgrounds, states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and
West Bengal still have to provide playgrounds to 44 to 60 percent of
their schools.
Safe drinking water is available in 77.8 percent
schools. In states like Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, more than 75
percent schools reported that they had separate toilets for girls.
However,
in Odisha, only 14 percent schools had separate girls' toilets, in
Andhra Pradesh, 46.3 percent, and in Bihar, 46 percent.
Teachers
recruitment remains a problem, as the study shows only 56.6 percent
schools comply with the pupil-teacher ratio of 30:1.
The study
also found that while the act says no teachers shall be deployed for any
non-educational work other than census, disaster relief and local,
state and general elections, more than 47 percent teachers were involved
in activities other than these.

In view of unsatisfactory progress by schools in meeting the
March 31 RTE deadline, an education forum today indicated moving to
court for ensuring legal entitlement under the Act and demanded Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention in the matter.

RTE Forum, a platform of national education networks and
teachers, among others said they would demand that the Prime Minister
convenes a meeting of chief ministers to ensure efficient implementation
of the RTE Act.

The forum's suggestion came after a stock-taking review
conducted by it in about 2700 schools spread across 17 states found that
five per cent of schools still run in single classroom while 22 per
cent do not have safe drinking water.

"We want the Prime Minister to call a meeting of the chief
ministers and ask them to come up with a road map and conduct review
meeting every six months for proper implementation of the Act.

"We do not have enough allocation for RTE implementation.
Government should show the commitment," convenor of the forum Ambarish
Rai said.

His comments came a day after HRD Minister M M Pallam Raju
ruled out extending the deadline at the CABE meeting even as both
Congress and non-Congress ruled states were in favour of extension.

Spelling out several parameters where the schools were found lacking, Rai did not rule out the possibility of "going to court".

He said "non-fulfilment of the rights is a violation of
fundamental right and protection of Constitution is the responsibility
of the judiciary" and demanded setting up of a monitoring committee
under the court for looking into implementation of the provisions under
the Act.

"There is a lot to be done to improve the scenario in many
states Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh
where only a small percentage of schools have separate toilets for
girls," the forum said in its report.

Talking about discrimination in classes against girl child,
Dalits, Adivasis, Muslims and children with disability, it claimed they
were not being allowed to sit on benches and not given leadership roles
in classrooms.

"Further, private schools which are fulfilling the norms under the Act are charging hefty fees from the students," Rai said.

Reserving 25 per cent of seats for the weaker section in classrooms was not being properly followed by these schools, he said.

Presenting a dismal record of the implementation the
Right to Education (RTE) Act on completion of the three-year deadline to
comply with the Act’s infrastructure norms and teacher availability, a
stock taking report by RTE Forum, a national collective of education
networks and teachers’ organisations, has estimated that only 7 per cent
of the schools are RTE compliant.
The RTE Stock Taking Report 2013, which was released in the Delhi
today, is based on a study conducted across 17 states and 2700
government and private schools as well as on secondary information from
civil society organisations working on the field in various states.
Speaking to Firstpost, Ambarish Rai, National Convener, RTE
Forum said, “The government’s view is that the compliance of schools of
RTE norms is around 10 percent. But as per our assessment, RTE
compliance is around 7 percent. This assessment is based on the combined
findings of the study and secondary information gathered from various
states.”
Issues, identified by the report, where action has been slow are
‘adequate financing, regulation of private providers, teacher
recruitment, improving quality of teacher training institutes, setting
up of transparency systems and redressal mechanism.”
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act or the RTE
Act, which came into force on 1 April, 2010 set a three year deadline
to meet all norms except for the target of teacher training (for which
the deadline is 31 March, 2015)

Representational Image. AFP

In a scenario where 8 million children are of out of school, a key
requirement of the RTE Act — that of identifying out of school children,
known as child mapping — the study finds, has been undertaken in 61
percent of the schools. Of these, however, only 40 percent of the
schools kept a record or register of child mapping.
On the quality of infrastructure, the study states, “In India, one of
the major reasons for poor education and learning outcome is the lack
of sufficient school infrastructure in many parts of the country. A good
number of schools still function in single or two room buildings with
one teacher along with lack of other basic training infrastructure
including teaching material.” As per the study, seven percent of the
schools did not have black-boards and five percent functioned from
single classrooms.
On the achievements made, the study highlights that 79 percent of the
schools had all weather buildings and 77 percent of the schools
complied with neighbourhood norms. (The National Model Rules on Right to
Education lay down that there should be one primary school within 1 km
reach and one upper-primary school within 3km reach).
Nearly 58 percent of the schools reported having playgrounds and 55 percent having libraries.
Drinking water, considered an important factor in attracting and
retaining children in school, was available in 77.8 percent of the
schools, as per the study. However, only 53 percent of the schools
reported having separate toilets for girls.
With teacher vacancy hovering at 12 lakh, shortage of teachers
remains a serious concern. As per the study, only a little more than
half of the schools complied with the Pupil Teacher Ratio as laid down
by the RTE act. (The Act prescribes a pupil teacher ratio of 1 teacher
for 30 students in primary school and 1 teacher for 35 students on upper
primary).
Highlighting the prevalence of social exclusion in schools, the study
finds that the most predominant form of discrimination was not being
allowed to sit on benches “which varied for Dalits (9.4 percent),
Adivasi (5 percent), Muslim (7.3 percent) and children with special
needs (7.7 percent).
The forum will submit a memorandum highlighting the key findings to the Prime Minister’s office on 4 April.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

LUCKNOW:
UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav's much tom-tommed free laptop sop for
students appears to have sucked away funds from the treasury to the
point that it has left classrooms paperless. With exams looming,
students of government primary and junior high schools (Class I to VIII)
across the state have been told to bring their answer sheets from home
and teachers told to write the questions on blackboards.

This situation has arisen because the state government has not made any
budgetary provision for these annual examinations, slated to begin from
May 7. The practical examinations for these students will begin from
April 25. More than 1.4 crore students enrolled in over 1 lakh
government primary and junior high schools will be affected by this.
"The government is absolutely mum on the examination expenditure,''
said a source. The issue was raised at the meeting of assistant
directors (basic education) last week but the government gave no
assurance that funds would come in for schools to buy enough answer
sheets to see through the annual exams.
When TOI asked basic
education secretary Sunil Kumar about the examination fund, he evaded
the question. Instead, he said: "There is no concept of annual
examinations in primary schools. Students are assessed throughout the
academic session.''
The basic education director, however,
contradicted the secretary. "Although students are not failed till class
VIII, we hold the annual examinations to assess the quality of students
and then plan improvement," said director Basudev Yadav.
Paucity
of funds has left no scope for getting question papers printed and
answer copies to be distributed to the students. While no top official
is paying heed to it, Basic Shiksha Parishad has already asked the
government schools to prepare question papers based on the model papers
for Classes I-V and VI-VIII. The sample papers are already uploaded on
the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) website.
"The government has decided to impart free education to all from
classes I-VIII. But it hasn't allocated any funds for the examinations.
Earlier, we used to get sports fee or development fee from the students
which helped us in conducting the exams. But after the government banned
this amount, conducting examinations has become a burden,'' said a
primary school teacher.
A basic education official explained:
"Teachers in some schools shell out money from their pocket to provide
answer copies to the students. But mostly, students have been asked to
get their answer copies.'' Another worry is where will the money come
from for providing mark sheets too the students. "A similar situation
prevailed last year but there were some funds which helped us. This
time, it's nearly impossible to provide mark sheets to the students,''
said a teacher.Per child cost of answer-copies
According to government officials, the cost of holding annual
examinations isn't much. While students of classes I-II do not use more
than two answer-copies, those from Classes III-V take around four to 10
copies. Students of Classes VI-VIII use maximum 15 answer copies. Taking
this into consideration, the amount spent on a primary school student
doesn't exceed Rs 10 while for a junior high school student, it comes to
Rs 15.

Monday, April 22, 2013

CHANDIGARH: Pointing out to the alleged laidback attitude of the Chandigarh
administration in tightening the noose around private schools flouting
the Right to Education (RTE) norms, members of Citizens Voice group said
the managements of schools which are openly evading the
high court orders and RTE norms must be taken over by the Union
Territory administration. Additionally, the minority status being sought
by some prominent schools on the basis of 20 per cent Sikh students in
their school will also be challenged by the group members.
"Schools are bound to admit students in the Economically Weaker
Sections (EWS) category in every class and not just in the first or
entry level class. The UT administration is acting against public
interest to benefit private schools and thereby trying to wrongly
suggest that admission under EWS category is limited only to the entry
level class," members of Citizens' Voice emphasized this during a public
interaction at Lala Lajpat Rai Bhawan on Friday.

Social activist Hemant Goswami said that soon various citizen groups
would be moving a 'contempt of court' petition in the high court against
officers of the Chandigarh Administration as well as the schools for
violating the high court order, which clearly mentioned that 15 per cent
students from economically disadvantaged sections of society have to be
admitted in each and every class being run by the school, which comes
to 15 per cent of the total strength of students in a school.
Advocate and social worker Nitin Goyal pointed out that private schools
have been trying to escape from admitting EWS students on flimsy grounds
just to save their 'elitist tag'. Goyal said, "Most states have started
taking tough action against private schools violating the RTE Act, but
the UT administration has still been trying to persuade the violator
schools, which sounds comical since the schools have blatantly refused
to fulfil their obligations.
Goswami claimed that a legal notice
has been issued to the administration officers, including the
administrator and the education secretary, alleging contempt of court
and corruption within the administration. Sunny Mehta of National
Students' Union of India (NSUI) said students of Panjab University have
formed a group to fight against private schools not following RTE
provisions.

CUTTACK: The district administration has taken initiative to ensure
proper implementation of the rule reserving 25% seats in private schools
for children belonging to economically-backward sections under the
Right to Education (RTE) Act.

The administration had conducted a
survey in the district and prepared database of the children, who are
eligible to get benefit under the rule. Till now 8,200 such children
have been identified in the district and private schools in respective
areas have been given a list of the eligible students so that the
students will not face problems while getting admission, official
sources said.

"There are around 84 private schools in the
district, including Odia and English medium, and we have provided them a
list of eligible children under the catchment area. Till now, 500
children have been admitted to different private schools and we are
monitoring the situation very closely," said district project coordinator of Sarva Siksha Abhiyan Bijay Rath.

"The state government has decided to implement the RTE Act from this
year and accordingly we have taken measures to ensure that the rule is
implemented in letter and spirit. We have issued direction to private
schools that if any irregularities or violation are found, then
appropriate action will be taken against them. However, till now we have
not received any complaint against any private school," said collector
(Cuttack) Girish S N. He further added that the database was prepared
with an aim to ensure that the private schools cannot deny admission to
eligible students citing that they don't belong to their catchment
areas.

The district officials are also convincing poor parents
to admit their children in private schools. "Many poor parents are not
willing to get their children admitted to private schools as they feel
that their wards will be deprived of government benefits like midday
meal, free textbooks and free school uniforms. But we are convincing
them that they will get similar benefits in private school too," said a
district official. However, the private schools are not happy over the
rule. "The state government is yet to decide how much fees of the poor
students, admitted against the 25% quota, will be reimbursed and how it
will be done. In such circumstances, it is quite difficult to implement
the rule," said principal of a school on condition of anonymity.

CHANDIGARH:
As many as 173 students under the general category, who could not make
it to any of the city private schools in the pre-primary classes, might
soon get lucky. The UT education department has asked the private
schools to follow Right To Education (RTE) Act and convert the vacant
seats and merge them into general after April 10.
At present,
there are more than 400 seats in 48 private schools that are lying
vacant. To fill up the vacancy, the department had called for
applications under the EWS category from March 22 till 28.

The department has already forwarded to the schools 227 registration
forms which they have collected and ordered schools to admit the
eligible children. The department officials said that the schools are
just shielding themselves by giving excuses for not admitting the EWS
children.
The private schools have openly refused to admit EWS
children following Delhi high court's verdict which states that RTE Act
applies to children who are between 6 and 14 years of age.
Director Public Instructions (schools) Upkar Singh said, "This year, the
schools were told in advance that they have to keep the seats vacant
till April 10 so that efforts could be made to fill them. Post this
date, they would be free to convert the seats. After April 10, the
schools only have to send a notification to the department the number of
seats still vacant and that they will be offering these seats to
General category children on April 15."

New Delhi, April 2: The Centreappeared
to throw a lifeline to thousands of unrecognised private schools facing
closure because of failure to comply with Right To Education Act norms
within a three-year deadline that ended today.

Action should be
initiated against those schools that “have not moved an inch” but states
may be lenient towards others, Union HRD minister M.M. Pallam Raju said
after a meeting to review the 2010 act’s implementation.

The majority of
the private schools would have taken some action and there are “very
few” that “would not have budged an inch”, said a member of the Central
Advisory Board of Education (CABE), the apex advisory body on education
at whose meeting Raju did today’s stock-taking.

The minister
himself hinted as much. “The RTE Act does not permit extension of the
deadline. The states can be a little lenient on the procedure of closing
the schools. If some schools have not moved, action should follow.”

The act came into force on April 1, 2010, and was to be implemented within three years.

Under the law,
unrecognised private schools were to get recognition from local
authorities within three years. To get such a tag, the schools had to
meet infrastructure norms and pupil-teacher ratios specified in the act.

At present, there
are nearly 2.5 lakh private schools in the country. Of them, around 50
per cent could be unrecognised and technically face closure, said CABE
member Vinod Raina.

But state
education ministers who attended today’s meeting appeared sceptical
about such a prospect. “We have to give some more time to the private
schools to comply (with the regulations). Twenty-five per cent of the
schools in Madhya Pradesh are private schools. Without private schools,
we cannot implement the RTE Act,” said state school education minister
Archna Chitnis.

Chitnis’s
Maharashtra counterpart R.J. Darda wondered what the course of action
should be. Raju then came up with the “budge an inch” suggestion. “I
will urge the states to make some example by taking action against
schools which have not budged an inch.”

Experts viewed
Raju’s statement as a respite. A CABE member said it could help almost
all unrecognised schools evade closure by showing some initiatives for
complying with the RTE regulations.

“The majority of
the private schools would have taken some action. There are, maybe, very
few schools which would not have budged an inch. So a few schools may
be closed by following procedures,” the member said.

Parth Shah,
president of the NGO Centre for Civil Society that works on RTE issues,
described the minister’s comment as a relief. “I welcome the minister’s
statement. You cannot close down the private schools without creating
alternative facilities. If you close (them) down, it will defeat the
purpose of the RTE Act,” Shah said.

He said the government should continue to put pressure on private schools to comply with the norms.

The procedure for
closure involves inspections by experts, issuing notices and giving the
schools an opportunity to present their case. The process takes about a
year.

The education
ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Haryana expressed concern
about another area — weak assessments in government schools against the
backdrop of the RTE Act forbidding detentions up to Class VIII.

These ministers
felt there should be examination and proper evaluation of learning
outcomes. “There should be screening at every level. Children are not
motivated to study as there is no examination pressure,” said Haryana’s
Geeta Bhukkal.

After many non-SSC schools, recently, received a circular from
the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) asking them to follow
admission norms under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, the institutions
have complained that they are being illegally targeted by municipal
education officers.
The schools, which do not receive aid from the government, are
exempted from the RTE Act 2009. But on March 21, the institutions, both
unaided minority and non-SSC schools, were shocked to receive a circular
issued by BMC education inspectors stating that they will have to admit
25% students from economically weaker families and disadvantaged
groups.
The schools have complained to the Unaided Schools Forum that
represents 200 institutions from the city. After the complaints, Subhash
Chandra Kedia, secretary of the Unaided Schools Forum has written to
the education authorities complaining about the harassment from BMC
officers. In 2000, the school education department had issued a
circular saying that the non-SSC schools have to directly report to the
state school education department and their education inspectors. “The
BMC has no authority over the non –SSC schools in greater Mumbai. And
yet the officers continue to trouble our schools,’’ said Kedia.
Also, a circular issued by the state government on March 15
reiterated that the unaided minority schools do not have to implement
the RTE act including the 25% quota admissions, he added.
Tauheed Shaikh, the BMC officer who issued the circular told HT that he had wrongly sent the circular to such schools.
“We understand that the schools are not under our purview. Circulars were sent to these schools by mistake,’’ he said. Kedia
added that the circular worried schools, and they have sent the details
asked by the circular to the education department. ''If the BMC sent us
the circular by mistake, they should have sent a clarification as
well,'' said Kedia.

New Delhi, April 2 (IANS) Human Resource Development Minister
M.M. Pallam Raju Tuesday said there will be no extension in Right to
Education Act (RTE) deadlines but left the decision of action against
non-complying schools on state governments.
Talking to reporters
after a meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), the
minister said it was the general consensus in the highest advisory body
on education that the deadline should not be extended.
"Though
some states demanded extending the RTE deadline, as of now, there is a
consensus in CABE that the deadline for RTE should not be extended," the
minister said.
The deadline for implementation of RTE Act was
March 31, 2013. However, a lot of states are lagging behind with schools
lacking infrastructure, qualified teachers and other things.
Raju
said the responsibility of taking action against schools for
non-compliance of RTE Act was with the state governments. He, however,
assured that non-complying schools will not be shut overnight.
"It
is in the hands of state government to take action. There will be a
process to it, there will be an inspection, then the schools will be
sent notice, they can explain why they are not complying with the
norms," Raju said.
He, however, added that action should be taken
against schools which are in bad shape, or fail to follow the guidelines
even after warnings.
The minister also said that the a lot has been achieved since the RTE was implemented.
"We
have gained in creation of infrastructure, though more needs to be
achieved. We are lagging behind in teachers' training, but there have
been sincere efforts. But there is a positive spirit among the states to
implement the act," he said.
Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh
sought extending the deadline of RTE, while Maharasthra had sought the
government to clarify its position on the issue.
Speaking in the meeting, several states had complained over not getting enough funds.
Uttarakhand,
Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Jammu and Kashmir were
among the states that complained that they were running short of funds
for teachers' salaries as well as the reimbursements to private schools
for giving admission to children from weaker economic sections.
In
response, Raju said the budget had to be cut in the last fiscal due to
economic slowdown, but assured the states of adequate funds this year.
Some
states complained that the provision of no detention till class 8 was
affecting the quality of education as well as attendance. To this, Raju
said that a committee has been formed to look into this aspect of RTE,
adding that no detention did not mean there should be no exams in
schools.
Earlier, in his address at the meeting, Raju urged states and union territories to implement the landmark act.
The
minister said that 12,000 more schools had to be constructed under the
RTE, and added that reducing gender and social gaps was the key areas of
focus for the government.
"A plethora of reforms is needed in the
education sector. The debate has shifted from access to quality of
education," Raju said.
The other important issues discussed in the
meeting included the proposal of creating a national testing agency to
hold all entrance exams, and including NationaL Cadet Corps and the
National Service Scheme as elective courses at college level.

While the implementation of the right to
education (RTE) act has not been satisfactory in terms of admission of
students from the underprivileged sections of society in many parts of
the country, there is another area of concern relating to the
infrastructural facilities in schools. When the Act came into force in
April 2010, it mandated that all schools should set up the necessary
facilities for education in three years.

These included
buildings, an office for the headmaster, one class room for every
teacher, drinking water facilities, separate toilets for boys and girls,
a kitchen, boundary walls, a playground, a ramp for disabled students
and adequate number of teachers. According to reports a large number of
schools have failed to provide these facilities by the deadline of March
31 this year, and therefore they face the threat of closure.

The
government has refused to extend the deadline. Union HRD minister
Pallam Raju has said that 90 per cent of the schools have met the
required norms. He also said that some government schools were also
among those who are yet to put up the required infrastructure. But data
from many sources and anecdotal evidence show that the 90 per cent
figure quoted by the minister is an exaggeration.

Some estimates
have put the level of non-compliance at between 40 and 50 per cent. The
minister did not make it clear whether the funding for the defaulting
schools would be discontinued and they would be shut down. This should
not happen because millions of students would then be left without
schools, defeating the very purpose of the universal and compulsory
education programme.

The government should have monitored the
progress of schools in building the necessary infrastructure in the
last three years. Even in many schools where the facilities have been
provided they are not up to the required standards. The minister has
said the enrolment rate has gone up to 96 per cent. While this is
welcome, if it is correct, this will benefit students only if the
quality of education, which depends much on the infrastructure and
facilities available in schools, is good.

Students are found
deficient in basic literacy and numeracy skills even after years in
schools. The minister has himself admitted that shortage of teachers is a
serious challenge. While most aspects of the implementation of the
programme need to be strengthened, more attention should be paid to the
basic requirements.

April 1, 2013 marks the three years of Right To Education (RTE)
Act implementation in our country. It is mentioned in the Act that all
the norms and standards of RTE Act will be fulfilled within three years
of the commencement of the Act. March 31, 2013 is the deadline for
fulfilling all the norms. But, free, compulsory and quality elementary
education for every child in public schools has not been fulfilled.
Fortunately, Orissa was the second State after Sikkim to form rules on
RTE Act but flaws and lopsided implementation have stood far from the
desired targets.
As per the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), 2012, 96 per cent
of all children in the 6 to 14 years age group in rural Orissa were
enrolled in schools out of which 89.6 per cent were enrolled in public
schools. As per Section 12 of RTE Act, the school and Mass Education
Department has issued orders to all private unaided schools to admit in
entry level classes at least 25 per cent children belonging to
economically weaker section but this has gone wallow as there is no
system to reimburse the school fees charged by the schools yet.
Issues of teachers
The issues of teachers in our State are many. The State has over 35,928
primary schools and 20,427 upper primary schools. Out of the total
teacher strength of 1,67,948, some 79,715 no. of teachers are either
Sikshya Sahayaka or Ganasikshaka. The recent phenomenon of recruiting
contractual teachers instead of regular teachers has badly affected
classroom teaching. The salaries of the contractual teachers are
generally a fraction of the salary of regular teachers. Each of the
around 7,000 elementary schools of our State is run by a single teacher.
As a fallout, teachers are demonstrating throughout the year. Teachers’
absenteeism is also a major cause which affects teaching in classrooms.
Again, the school is a dream for 4,560 villages in our State.
Orissa is a tribal dominated State. There are 11 primitive tribal groups
who have no access to other language except their local dialects. A
high level committee of the State Government had decided to make
available textbooks and create teachers post in tribal languages in
order to mainstream them into schools, but this has not been given due
weightage for the reason best known to them.
Status of the State as per
RTE Compliance
According to the data revealed by the Orissa Primary Education Programme
Authority (OPEPA), Orissa has been lagging behind from being an RTE
compliant State. Thirteen per cent of school classrooms, 66 per cent in
terms of girls’ toilet in schools, 46 per cent in building ramp, 74 per
cent in opening library in schools and 66 per cent in building boundary
wall have not been complied with RTE norms in elementary level. In order
to fulfill the needs of teachers as per the norms, the State has to
fill up the vacancy of around 13,000 teachers in schools.
Budgetary allocation and spending
In 2012-13, there was an allocation of Rs 6,525.40 crore for education
in the State which has been increased subsequently. But if we compare
the increase with the inflation and increased share of child population
in a year, the increase pales into insignificance. There is
under-utilisation of SSA funds. While Rs 2,680 crore was allocated for
SSA, only 50 per cent has been spent till December 2012. Last year, an
allocation of Rs 94.43 lakh was made for school libraries; only 28.70
per cent of the funds have been spent. While Rs 80.61 crore was
allocated under Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV), our State has
been able to spend only Rs 23.72 crore. The percentage of fund
utilisation till December 2012 was 83.7 with respect to fund available
and 49.99 per cent with respect to Annual Work Plan and Budget. In the
field of infrastructure, 51.80 per cent of fund has been utilised and
67.95 per cent of fund utilisation has been witnessed in textbook
supply. Similarly, the Government’s target was to provide drinking water
facilities to 5,972 schools last year but not even a single school had
been provided drinking water facilities till January 2013. Therefore,
under-utilisation and lack of monitoring mechanism have given birth to a
huge gap between budgeted expenditure and actual spending in education.
Challenges and loopholes
Despite some initiatives taken in our State to perk up the standard of
elementary education, there are several challenges ahead if education is
really to see its step up. Quality learning at classrooms in public
schools is still a far cry. Knowledge on basic arithmetic, numeric
counting, class-wise learning capacity of school children in our State
are very scary. The institutional support mechanism and policy reform
have not been addressed properly, because there should be a State level
advisory committee on education which has not yet been formed. In order
to tackle the problems of child labour, juveniles in conflict with laws
and street children, there must be a convergence to monitor these issues
and mainstream the deprived children into schools. The State Government
has not yet defined out of school children in the RTE Rules which means
the Government does not want to enroll them.
School Management Committee and local authority had been seen as tools
for school governance in RTE Act but their performance is not yet
agreeable for effective school management and bringing children into
schools respectively. Therefore, the State Government must make
necessary arrangements to ensure their actual participation in school
management. The State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR)
has been formed to protect the children against violation of their
rights but the performance of the SCPCR is very poor. The State
Government has no solid data on the number of child labourers as there
is no survey undertaken on child labour after 1997. Orissa has ranked
one in missing children cases in India which is a major issue of
concern. Looking at these inefficiencies, can we say that RTE Act has
really turned out to be a justiciable right for the children?
Naba Kishor Pujari

Having
spent months shivering in the morning chill, the 90 students of
Government Primary School, Kutcha Number 16, Fieldganj, Ludhiana, cannot
heave a sigh of relief even in summer.
The sunny mornings would prove to be of little respite to these children, as they spend day after day in a school, which has no roof, classrooms, toilets or drinking water facility.

The
students would have to go through another gruelling summer as
temperatures reach 35 to 40 degrees, making it difficult to even sit on
the floor, which is another problem, as debris of broken walls lie
scattered on it.
Established in 1929, the school has been functioning without these
basic amenities since 1995. But the poor state of affairs has failed to
move the state government.
Making matters worse, there are only four teachers handing Classes 1
to 5, coercing teachers to teach multiple classes simultaneously. That's
not all. The school does not have an entrance gate or a proper boundary
wall, allowing anybody to enter the school premises, leaving students
and teachers unsafe. Stray animals also enter the school of free will,
putting little children in jeopardy.
Students are also forced to spend the day among flies and stench, as
the school ground has become an open garbage dump for nearby residents.
All this is in clear violation of the Right to Education Act, which
mandates that every school have proper classrooms, toilets, drinking
facility, let alone a roof in the school.

While the state
government has been issuing notices to private schools for not
implementing the RTE Act, it has turned a blind eye to its own schools.
Talking to Hindustan Times, a teacher, at the condition of anonymity,
said, “The school ground has become a garbage dump, where nearby
residents regularly throw garbage. Moreover, the boundary wall of the
school has been broken for years, but nobody has bothered to repair it.”
The teacher added, “We face problems be it any season. While children
shiver in the winter, they have to silently endure the scorching days
as well. With no roof, rains make it impossible to hold classes,
therefore school is closed during monsoon. Lack of infrastructure forces
the school authorities to make the students sit on floor, which is also
broken.”She rued that the school did not even have proper drinking
water facility or a toilet, compelling students to relieve themselves in
the open, or go home.
When contacted, state education minister Sikander Singh Maluka, said,
“The matter of the school land is sub judice, as some locals claim that
they own the land, though it belongs to the government. But, we will
take permission from the Punjab and Haryana high court to construct
classrooms in the school. We will also work towards providing basic
facilities, like drinking water, toilets and infrastructure in the
school.”
Another schoolteacher, who wished not to be named, said, “We don't
understand what is important for the higher authorities - land or
education of these children. The government must shift the students to
another school, which has at least basic facilities.”What the law says
According to the RTE Act, each school must have at least one
classroom per teacher, separate toilets for boys and girls, drinking
water facility, kitchen where mid-day day meals are cooked, barrier-free
access for disabled children and office-cum-store for the head teacher.

LUCKNOW:
Contrary to the Central government's figures on the status of Right To
Education (RTE) implementation, the Annual Status of Education Report
(ASER) findings published by an NGO, Pratham, show that only 15.6%
schools in Uttar Pradesh have the pupil-teacher ratio in compliance with
the RTE norms. The data given by HRD ministry puts this figure at
38.57%.
While the government has been silent on "out of school"
children, the ASER findings state that the drop out rate is maximum in
UP, with 6.4% children having no access to schools. In 2012, 81.3% of
all schools visited had drinking water which is above the all India
average of 73%. Nearly 52.5% schools were found having useable toilets
while about 83% of schools visited had separate provision for girls'
toilets. The mid-day meal was being served in 85.6% schools. Besides,
the appointment process of 72,825 teachers is stuck after the alleged
Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) scam. Training of teachers is far from
reality.

Experts say though RTE has boosted enrolment in schools, but the
learning outcomes are still very low. "The focus is on infrastructure
issues like building, enrolment, teacher-student ratio, mid-day meals
but focus on education, a child's ability to read, write and learn is
not visible,'' said a primary school teacher. tnnSurvey on RTE
On the completion of three years of RTE Act, Voice of People, an
organisation working on RTE conducted a survey on 255 schools (215
primary and 37 upper primary) in 40 blocks covering 18 districts.Key findings are:
1. Only 68% schools have separate classrooms for each teacher. 4% schools have single classroom.
2. 9% upper primary schools have proper furniture.
3. 50% schools do not have useable toilets. 9% schools have no toilet facility.
4. No drinking water facility in 13% schools.
5. 38% schools have no boundary or fencing, 9% schools have damaged boundary walls.
6. 42% schools have no play ground, 64% lack staff rooms.
7. Merely 8% schools have separate room for library.
8. Only 40% have first aid kit.
9. Pupil-teacher ratio was 1:46 in primary schools and 1:59 in upper
primary schools. The ideal ratio is 1:30 and 1:35 for primary and upper
primary respectively.
10: There are only 68% and 89% permanent teachers in primary schools and upper primary schools respectively.

Having
served his last day in office as RTE’s national coordinator on March
31, the day the deadline for implementing various RTE norms got over,
Dhir Jhingran talks about what’s working, and what’s not, at the
national commission for protection of child rights

Author Profile

Share

After working in the ministry of human resource and development
(HRD) for nine years and more than 20 years of work in the education
sector, Dhir Jhingran was appointed as the national coordinator of right
to education (RTE) act at the national commission for protection of
child rights (NCPCR).
An IAS of 1986-batch Assam cadre, Jhingran resigned from the post
within just six months of appointment. Significantly, his last day in
office, March 31, was the deadline for implementation of various norms
under the act.
Also significant is the fact that Jhingran is the second national
coordinator of the RTE division to leave work midway through his term.
Exactly a year before, Kiran Bhatty, the consultant who established the
division in 2010, put in her papers along with five members on March 31,
2012.
Though Bhatty refused to get into details, she said it was important
to have specific roles and duties for a department to work efficiently
(read an earlier interview with Bhatty here).
In an interview with Jasleen Kaur, Jhingran now explains the
reason behind his premature resignation from the RTE division of NCPCR,
and the problems with the enforcement of RTE act.
Excerpts from the interview:

What forced you to quit?
I don’t think there is enough commitment on part of NCPCR as an
organisation to be an effective agency to monitor RTE. It’s not about
the chairperson — she is very committed — but as an organisation, it is
not committed to RTE.
I think the problem lies somewhere in the fact that NCPCR is strongly
controlled by the women and child development (WCD) ministry. (In fact)
it is seen as a WCD subordinate office, whereas the RTE division is
funded by the HRD ministry. Besides, though NCPCR is mandated to be an
autonomous body, that mandate is not backed up by funds or strong
commitment of the organisation.
Some members are (also) very critical of the RTE and raise issues
about earlier problems in the division. I somehow feel they (these
members) do not want the RTE to be effective.
But the situation really worsened after the new member-secretary,
Ashish Srivastav, joined. I feel he is not convinced that NCPCR should
be working for RTE. We had a meeting with the MHRD and we came to know
that he is also talking to the ministry whether there is a need for the
NCPCR to monitor the implementation of the act.

What really went wrong?
We took several new initiatives in the six months I spent there. But
the last two months were only about taking unnecessary permissions,
clearances, funds and so forth from the commission.
There have been cases where it was very difficult to get permission
even after several rounds of discussions and file movements. So it was
not really a great environment to work. Having worked in the government
for 26 years I am least interested in doing these clerical things.

What are the problems you faced while working in the division?
I am a trained official and I understand rules of the government. So
when I am finding problems, it means there are huge issues involved.
There is a problem of intent in not allowing things to work. I came here
to work but it’s sad to be leaving so early.
One can fight on principles or policies but not on such basic issues.
It’s a very harassing way of working. I would definitely blame the
member-secretary, apart from the contradictions within the commission. I
think the member-secretary has failed to provide the support that was
required (of him). I understand there are problems between the WCD
minister and the chairperson; (that) they somehow do not see eye to eye.
I have worked here very independently in the six months and the
chairperson, in fact, insulated me from a lot of interference that may
have come from the WCD ministry. She played a very positive role but how
much can she alone do? It’s not worth (the effort) if the organisation
is not committed to it. The NCPCR should see it as a great opportunity
for its role in RTE but you need a strong organisation to take up
things.

Do you think forming an independent body to monitor RTE could help?
NCPCR and state commissions are supposed to be autonomous bodies but
the problem is, we are not serious about our institutions. What’s the
logic of creating an alternative body when you have got these
institutions which are statutory provided for. They are under the acts
of parliament.
But we create institutions and do not invest in them and weaken them
for purpose. In many states, the SCPCRs (state commission for protection
of child rights) are given such a low status and salary that they
cannot actually be effective in monitoring. So the answer is not the new
institution but to recognise that such institutions should work
autonomously in real sense.
One of the things that can be done is to provide funding that is not
tied to any ministry. For example, if we are monitoring MHRD, I should
not get funds from MHRD; I should get it from elsewhere — like the
planning commission or somewhere. Right now, MHRD approves the work plan
and we are supposed to monitor that, which is a little complex
situation. The other thing, specifically for the RTE division, is that I
feel it should be headed by someone from the government.
Most people working here are consultants; I was also employed as a
consultant. But it cannot work (that way). It’s a structural arrangement
that is bound to fail. Someone from the government should head it. We
are all within NCPCR but to be at the mercy of a person in the
administration, who one fine day decides that nothing should be
approved, is ridiculous.
As an institution, NCPCR has never taken full responsibility of RTE.
Some members keep opposing RTE. These are all dynamics about who is
aligned with WCD ministry and who is against the chairperson, or for
her. But that should not affect the functioning of the division which
has to monitor RTE. I could not travel much in the last two months
because it was all about signing files and notes, which was not my job.

Last year, when the RTE act completed two years, there was no
one heading the division. And now, when it is completing the third
year, there would be no one heading the division…

It’s a bad situation. It’s unfortunate that I have to leave so soon.
But one good thing is that the member who is now put in charge of the
RTE is very serious about the work. Hopefully she would take more
responsibility of what the national coordinator was doing till they get
someone. And the commission should give complete support for RTE, and
not any individual.

Do you think the HRD ministry should play a more serious role in implementing and monitoring the RTE act?
The HRD ministry does monitoring of its own also. There are lots of
reports that MHRD collects from the state government. But, yes, they
have to be very specific about what has happened, what needs to be done
and (should) regularly issue clear instructions to the states… so that
the NCPCR can monitor those deadlines.

The Right to Education Act 2009 seemed to herald a new era of
more widespread equality in Indian society, with the right to an
education recognized for all children between 6 and 14: three years on,
inequality in the school system seems to have widened rather than
showing any tendency to disappear. The reason of this blatant failure
are varied and lie in how the state school system is organised and run:
it was largely inefficient before the RTE, it's basically in shambles
now- teachers don't turn up for lessons, the facilities are poor, there
is no running water in the school buildings, only the children of the
very poor and illiterate attend state school. Granted, attendance
numbers have dramatically increased, but the quality of teaching seems
to have plummeted, and a myriad of private schools, largely illegal, has
sprung up all over the country. Pupils that attend such schools cannot
sit state exams, so parents enroll their children in both state and
private schools to get around this problem.
Is quality education effectively the reserve of the rich? Enshrined
in Section 12 of the RTE Act makes it compulsory for every private,
unaided school to reserve 25% quota of seats of entry to pupils from
poor or disadvantaged backgrounds: such places are subsidized by the
government. This is seen by Indians as truly revolutionary, as for the
first time quality education is available to the poor. In a country
where the gulf between rich and poor is getting wider, education is seen
by parents as the only way out for their children out of the slums and
poverty, but quality private education was until now largely
inaccessible to the poorest strata of the population, rendering their
escape from poverty seemingly impossible. Section 12, interestingly, has
been met with strong resistance by the 'elites', who don't seem to be
too gracious about sharing their school with the less fortunate: this
has led to manifestations and a general outcry by many of the
'educated'.

India has effectively a two tier education system which actually
worsens social divides: there seem to be 'two countries' in Indian
society. The RTE attempted to address such divide, but how strong is a
reform, if it's not supported by addressing the very issues that have
created the problem? If the state sector offers such a pathetic service,
one should first and foremost invest at a structural level to make
state school attractive to parents and truly inclusive: qualified
teachers and headteachers, facilities that offer clean, organised spaces
with water and food available, a service that is reliable, efficient
and accountable. Charities such as Save the Children already attempt to
address the above points: why is the Indian government not investing in
state education? State schools will only be attractive when they will
offer a service that is as good or comparable to the one offered by
elite schools.
It seems to me that the legislator's aim was indeed to increase
attendance to state schools: it's not clear to me why such obvious
structural problems have not been addressed in first place. If the
structure is not improved and fast, it's likely that the RTE will remain
largely ineffective. One reason could be that the strict rules of the
'caste' and class system are still well entrenched in the mentality of
the class that legislate, making it difficult (and indeed probably
perceived as threatening) for this minority to empower a majority that
has traditionally been relegated to manual labour and menial work.
One major problem is also that education has become a 'business':
when parents are ready to pay hefty fees to get their children through
education because state provision is poor, then you have a system that
indirectly encourages illegality and elitism. De facto, in a global
modern economy nations need 'skilled labor' to remain competitive and
literacy is a minimum requirement. Financial and macro-economic
considerations aside, it's important to relate to our fellow human
beings in a humane and egalitarian way, and it's simply morally wrong to
keep part of the population subjugated through ignorance. Knowledge is
after all power: power of choice. Nations that fail to educate their
people incur in a great loss: and not only from a human point of view,
as it's blatantly unfair to deprive part of the population of the
opportunity to develop new personal and work-related skills that could
elevate the individual to a more satisfying and interesting lifestyle.
It's also a great loss for the country from an economic/financial point
of view: a country that can offer skills and talent is a country that is
dynamic and alert, and can find a space on the world stage.
Resources
ICBSE (2009) Right To Education Act (2009) [Online]. Available from:
http://www.icbse.com/right-to-education-act
Education World Online (2010) RTE Act 2009: What the Top Principals Say [Online]. Available from:
http://www.educationworldonline.net/index.php/page-article-choice-more-id-2269
Teacher Plus (2011) RTE 2009: Cementing Inequalities [Online]. Available from:
http://www.teacherplus.org/debate/rte-2009-cementing-inequalities
Department of Education (2012) The Equality Act 2010 [ Online ]. Available from:
http://www.education.gov.uk/aboutdfe/policiesandprocedures/equalityanddiversity/a0064570/the-equality-act-2010